Climate Briefing: US firms feel the power of renewable energy targets

Growing numbers of American companies are joining RE100 at the same time as the Trump administration is pulling away from the Paris Agreement, reports Diana Rojas

Six more US companies joined the RE100 at Climate Week New York in September, meaning that 39 American firms now make up a third of the 113 companies that have pledged to go 100% renewable, stepping up efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change despite lack of support in the White House.

Kellogg, organic food company Clif Bar, General Motors, Califia Farms, along with JP Morgan Chase and Co. and Citi are the latest companies to join RE100.
At the COP23 climate talks in Bonn this month RE100 member Microsoft announced that it was quickening the pace. The company, the second-largest user of green power in the US, pledged to reduce its operational carbon emissions by 75% by 2030 compared to 2013 through more renewable energy and a focus on energy efficiency, avoiding 10m metric tons of CO2.

Three-quarters of Americans agree there is 'solid evidence' of global warming, the highest since 2007

Meanwhile Dutch chemical company Royal DSM, another RE100 member, announced at Bonn that it will operate on 40% renewable electricity in the US thanks to a new wind power agreement with Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources, amounting to 13% of its annual electricity purchased...

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